


Poached Eggs and Responsibility on Toast

by rennbee



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, I CAN WRITE MORE THAN TERRIBLE SMUT, Just a wee story, Oneshot, The Doctor was a parent once!, You are welcome, aND HEY LOOK
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 12:44:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19251460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rennbee/pseuds/rennbee
Summary: “I’m the Doctor. Nice to meet you - lovely begonias by the way - what’s your name?”The boy huffed and puffed his cheeks again, never letting up on his glare. He kept his arms tightly folded. “You’re on my dinosaur.”The Doctor blinked. Her head then tilted, bird-like, with confusion. “Your… dinosaur?”“Yes! You’re standing on him!”(In which 13 is being kinda a hopeless echo of her old parent-self, and a fairly precocious little kid gets caught up in the chaos quite by accident. Will the Doctor manage to pay for her heinous crimes on Earth and bring him back in time for tea?Maybe.If the dinosaurs aren't an issue...)





	Poached Eggs and Responsibility on Toast

**Author's Note:**

> Ahem. Yeah. So I write other things than my previous submission. Hope you're all the mood for a little fluff! Please leave comments if you can :) Anyway Thirteen is off on her own little trip without the fam squad.

“Oh,” is all the Doctor could manage to say as she surveyed her new location. This wasn’t where she’d set her co-ordinates at all. Wrong house, wrong backyard - wrong neighbourhood entirely. “Guess I overshot quite a bit…”

It was then her thoughts were broken by the very annoyed sound of someone clearing their throat. Someone below her tall range of vision. The Timelady looked down to find the source - a little boy about the age of six, it seemed, eyebrows furrowed and arms folded, cheeks puffed all the way out. He rather appeared as if someone had just kicked over a very fancy sandcastle he had spent all day crafting. Still standing in the doorway of the TARDIS, the Doctor blinked in surprise.

“Definitely the wrong neighbourhood…” She mused, before trying to greet the lad with a smile. He was, apparently, not having any of it. His little foot started tapping rhythmically against the grass.

“Er… Hullo. Sorry to drop in on… your back garden? I was trying to fly the ol’ girl and do a particularly vexing crossword at the same time. I can see now why it’s discouraged in defensive driving classes.” She kept smiling, hoping to evade the awkwardness of the situation. The human child didn’t seem at all fussed at the fact that a blue phone box had magically appeared in his garden, though the frown he wore did remind her of someone else she knew well. She decided to try again, holding out a hand to him.

“I’m the Doctor. Nice to meet you - lovely begonias by the way - what’s your name?”

The boy huffed and puffed his cheeks again, never letting up on his glare. He kept his arms tightly folded. “You’re on my dinosaur.”

The Doctor blinked. Her head then tilted, bird-like, with confusion. “Your… dinosaur?”

“Yes! You’re standing on him!”

“Don’t be silly, there aren’t any-” She paused with a quick frown to double check an upside down wristwatch, sniffing the air to make extra sure. “Yes, I’m right, it’s MUCH too far along Earth’s history for dinosaurs to be roaming about, unless you want to count chickens and some species of parrots, though semantics-”

The little boy looked close to exploding now, his face a darkening crimson. “You are, you crushed my T-Rex!”

“...A Tyrannosaurus Rex? Of the Mesozoic era?”

“His name’s Percy.”

“Percy… Oh! Er-” Understanding finally dawns in the Doctor’s eyes, and she makes a few apologetic noises before darting back inside her box. The type 40 time machine whirs and groans, dematerialising for a moment before appearing again, slightly to the left. The spot it left vacant bore a square indentation in the dirt, as well as a few scattered pieces of broken coloured plastic, half pushed into the earth. The boy’s face twists up as he regards the damage, trying to keep tears back while still looking cross, arms folded even more tightly now.

“Right, I-” Calls the Doctor, popping her head out again and following his gaze. “Oh dear… You know, I’m rather sorry about that, I didn’t know-”

“Fix him.” Sniffed the boy.

“Fix him?” The Doctor glanced back at the broken toys. “I don’t know if it’s within reason of fixing, really, I-”

“You’re a grown up?”

“Er… yes, I suppose, yes.”

“Grown ups have to be responstible for their actions.”

“Don’t you mean responsible? I’ve never been very good at-”

“You broke him, you have to fix him! You’re a grown up!” The boy glared up at her, tears in his eyes, his foot rapping furiously into the earth.

“Listen, I really can’t fix him, he’s been too scattered and the TARDIS probably destroyed-”

The boy sniffed rather threateningly, and the Doctor wondered helplessly if the universe kept doing this to her as karma. Then, an idea began to form in her head, and she held out her hands placatingly. 

“Please don’t cry, I-I can’t fix him BUT - I could offer you something new and exciting as an apology, if you’d like.”

He looked curious about that, but kept his arms folded, eyebrows lifted just a little.

“What kinda something?”

The Doctor smiled and beckoned him to come with her, stepping back inside her box. The boy hesitated a moment before following, his eyes widening in wonder. The Doctor leaned against her console and grinned expectantly. “Still never got your name, by the way. If you don’t tell me, I might have to start calling you ‘sonny Jim’.”

The boy did not seem to like the sound of that, wrinkling his nose. “My name is Daniel.”

“Ah, I used to know a Danny. He liked frowning too, from what I recall. So… What do you think of her, ay?” She gestured all around her.

“Daniel, not Danny! And it’s bigger on the inside.” Daniel scowled.

The Doctor paused. That was a new one. “You... don’t sound too happy about that.”

“It’s stupid, and doesn’t make sense! It was big enough on the outside already.”

“Well, maybe for you, you’re a lot smaller than me!” She scoffed.

“It was big enough to break Percy!” The boy retorted.

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry about Percy. It just so happens I was on my way to pick up some companions of mine - had a little errand to do that would have had me take them somewhere rather interesting, but I think you’d be more than welcome to help me instead. How would you like to see good old Percy in action?”

Daniels scowl was replaced with a few silent questions, and he nodded, wonder and curiousity back in his eyes.

The Doctor grinned. “Better hold on to something then!” She yanked on a bright red lever and sent the TARDIS lurching, allowing herself a joyful holler as the museum piece of a machine took off once again. They tumbled around for a few minutes, Daniel having grabbed a tight hold of the railing, until the rotor in the centre of the console began to slow and still. The TARDIS settled with a small cough and creak, and the Doctor readjusted her burgundy coat before crouching down to open a small hatch in the floor.

Holding it carefully, she hoisted a rather large egg from the hatch and into her arms, tucking it under her left. It was a dirty white with blotches of pale brown, like a cow. It almost looked too leathery to be an egg, but it was the same shape as the one Daniel had for breakfast. He couldn’t help but briefly wonder how many breakfasts THIS egg could make. He came to the very well educated and decisive conclusion, that it would need a lot of toast.

The Doctor strode over to the TARDIS doors and pushed them open with one hand, beckoning Daniel to come see what now lay beyond. The sounds of a long gone world cried out at him, urging him forward like a call to a wonderful adventure. The land outside was almost unrecognisable to his home. There were no houses or people or shops for fish and chips. There were a few trees he recognised, but far more kinds he’d never seen. Some small creature he couldn’t name stared at him from a nearby boulder before flicking away, lightning fast. Daniel blinked in awe and found himself stepping close to the Doctor, one small hand clutching at her coat. She glanced down and smiled gently, the action bringing back fonder memories still.

“Come along Jim- I mean, Daniel. You’ll be completely safe if you stay close to me, and please don’t run off. We’re going to see some dinosaurs!”

She led him outside the TARDIS and locked the doors with a beep and a remote set of car keys, making the whole situation rather contextually ridiculous. “Raptors, you know,” was her only explanation for her behaviour. Together they waltzed through the jungle-like terrain, the strange lady rambling about this and that, spouting endless facts and anecdotes of the jurassic era as if she came her often. Perhaps often enough. Daniel soon forgot his huff and anxious frown, dark wide eyes taking in as much as possible in what could be described as a good kind of shock. 

After a while of walking, they came to what appeared to be a dinosaur nest of some kind, where eggs like the one the Doctor carried rested among straw and heather. She explained that this little baby ‘dino’ had been found on a poacher ship, and she had been meaning to take it home to it’s mummy before it was missed. Said ‘mummy’ was apparently out feeding at present, which made it all the easier to gently place the stolen egg down back amongst its siblings. Once that was done, the Doctor led Daniel a little further through the trees and across the plain, until they came to a mighty cliff that offered and even mightier view. 

“Beautiful, isn’t it? All gone in your now, of course, but once upon a time, this planet was ruled by giants!” She exclaimed with grand gesture, out into the ever expanding view beyond. Dinosaurs of enormous majesty and size roamed as if they were all kings here, the sun painting the land golden as the sun began to set. As both travellers became lost in the view, they felt a few tremors in the earth below them, one after the other, each one slightly worse. “Ah… Yes, this period was rather filled with volcanic eruptions, so perhaps it’s best we head back now, and-” The Doctor fell silent when she smelled something very rotten indeed. A blast of hot air and the stench of decaying flesh hit them both on their backs, and they slowly turned around.

Towering above them, and much bigger than any toy, was a creature with leathery hide, big teeth, and comically useless arms. It growled low and deep, and Daniel swore he felt the very ground cower in fear. “O-Oh dear.” said the Doctor, “I think we’ve found Percy. Hello, your majesty!” 

The beast growled louder, and Daniel gripped the Doctor’s coat harder. Even she paled a little at the sound, and looked to Daniel with urgency, a twinkle of mad excitement in her eyes.

“Time to run!” She yelled, grabbing him by the hand and darting forward to sprint between the T-Rex’s legs. Mighty jaws snapped behind them as they ran as fast as they could, the Doctor laughing a little breathlessly as they went. “I love this period-” she gasped as they practically flew all the way back to the TARDIS, the ground shaking behind them as the king of dinosaurs gave chase. Luckily, they hadn’t gone far, and easily made it back through the doors before anything could devour them in a single bite.

The Doctor rushed to the console, pulling levers and turning dials, punching in numbers with fingers a-blur, until the ship began to take them back home. When the ship finally settled, both adventurers allowed themselves to breathe. What a ride, what a day! A real living T-Rex, right in front of them! Well, behind them, for the most part, but what could be more exciting! 

The Doctor swept her hair from her face and grinned a wide toothy grin, one hand leaning on the console. “Phew! I should visit that era more often, good for a workout… So! Danny-boy, Dino Dan! What’d you think of the real living article? Pretty spectacular, ay?”

Daniel, still a little puffed from the run for his young life, managed to scrape up the energy to talk. “My… name’s… Daniel!”

“Oh, all right. Dinosaur Daniel.” She scoffed. “Was that amazing or what?”

“I-It… was!” Gasped the boy, finally getting his breath back. “But… You still broke Percy.” He brought his arms back up, and folded them sternly again.

The Doctor looked more than a little surprised, and then exasperated. She runs her hand through her messy hair and sighs, snapping her fingers to open the TARDIS doors. It was still a perfectly lovely afternoon in Daniel’s backyard. “Kids these days… what does it take to impress you lot! You saw real dinosaurs, not simple toys! How many human children get that chance, do you think?”

Daniel sniffed. “You can see dinosaurs in museums.”

“But- BONES of dinosaurs, you can see dusty old bones! Not the living, breathing kind!”

“S’not my fault Percy got breaked…”

The Doctor frowned and sighed again, gently shooing the young boy out of the TARDIS doors and back into his garden. “I suppose not. All the wonders of the world couldn’t make a child want his favourite toy back any less…” She leaned out of the doorway and looked back at him. “You’re lucky I was probably born on a friday.” Without another word, she ducked back inside the blue doors and shut them, before the phone box disappeared with a wheezy groan. Daniel shouted out and stomped his foot, but she was apparently gone. Born on a friday? What could that even mean?

Still reeling a little from the whole experience, the little boy trudged back over to where his toy had been. He knelt down in the grass and forlornly picked at the pieces, nearly falling into dust in his fingers. Just as he felt the hot mist of tears in his eyes, he was hit by a sudden gust of wind, and that loud - now familiar - groaning noise. When that evil, wonderful blue box had settled again in the grass, the door creaked open, but no Doctor stepped out. Instead, there was a very faint whirring sound, followed by a tiny T-Rex model that looked identical to Percy. It walked out of the box all on it’s own, issuing little growls and roars as it paused to survey the area. The tall blonde haired mad-woman leaned out of the TARDIS with a smile. 

“There you go! Percy, the king of all dinosaurs, good as new! Literally. Had to cheat a bit with time. And I even took it upon myself to give good ol’ Perce a few upgrades.” She reached into her pocket and twirled an odd looking tool in her fingers, blowing on the top like a freshly fired gun.

“Hopefully that makes everything alright? No more tears today!” She beamed at her handiwork, the little toy dinosaur charging towards Daniel and roaring at him, plastic jaw clicking. The little boy looked at it in wonder, an enormous smile stretching along his entire face. He giggled in amazement as the toy hopped into his lowered hands, before glancing back up at the Doctor. Despite his obvious joy, the boy tried to give her a simple nod and a grown up look of mere satisfaction.

“He’ll do. The responstible thing is done, so I guess you’re okay now.”

The Doctor looks a little incredulous at the bland reaction. “Blimey… Not even a ‘thank you’... What are they teaching kids these days-” She leaned back into her time machine and began to take off, leaving ‘dinosaur Daniel’ to play. What a character… at least it was obvious he liked the new toy, so she could feel a warm bit of satisfaction for herself there. A stolen egg returned home, a broken toy replaced with a better one, no tears… A pretty good day, all in all. Still, there was one last stop to make.

When the TARDIS landed outside a familiar apartment block, it took mere minutes before three even more familiar faces were running towards the doors. They both greeted her with warm welcomes and grins, excited to hear what she’d been up to this time. The Doctor smiled and shrugged. “Oh, not much… Poached eggs, responsibility, saving the day - of course, nothing too out of the ordinary.”

Not a bad day at all.


End file.
